


Guardian of Secrets

by MarvelousMind



Category: Thor (Movies)
Genre: F/M, Infinity Gems, Loki-centric, Magic, Marvel Norse Lore, Mystery, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-11
Updated: 2015-06-11
Packaged: 2018-04-03 21:26:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,353
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4115476
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MarvelousMind/pseuds/MarvelousMind
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Syn, Norse goddess of truth and justice, handmaiden to Frigga, guardian of the palace. A powerful sorceress, for which Odin has great expectations… being Loki’s beloved is not part of the Allfather’s plans. Love could cause the keeper of secrets to become one.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Guardian of Secrets

**Author's Note:**

> This initial chapter is set well before the events of ‘Thor’. Characters are based on MCU>comics>mythology. Many more will follow.

The boy’s eyes were wide with wonder when by all rights they should have been wide with fear. Gazing over the edge of the precipice, headless of the danger, childishly secure in the knowledge that he’d never met with trouble up here before, he was even indifferent to the deep grumble of the rocks behind them. What danger could there be when a son of the great Allfather watched over him?

He leaned out a little further for a better look at the show below, the careening stones gathering momentum as they raced downhill, eventually launching off the terrain into the air, where they explode on impact with one another.

“Please don’t.” The boy turned at his Prince’s calm request, but did not back completely away from the edge. The Prince smiled knowingly at him, implying a comradery between them in which he understood the reluctance to repent curiosity. In his experience, few adults in Asgard would be forgiving of this inclination, much less sympathize with it. He instantly liked the prince even more.

“Would you like to see something really special?” the prince asked with that intriguing smile, the one that felt, not just polite, but warm. The boy inched back from the edge, his curiosity redirected by his need to know what someone as enigmatic as this particular prince would consider ‘really’ special.

Suddenly the deep rumbling became more insistent, the ground shifting beneath their feet with teeth rattling force, jarring the boy from his complacency. He looked up from the newly formed crevice in the rock shelf under his feet, worried eyes fastening onto the prince, finally beginning to appreciate his precarious position.

The dark haired prince with the bright smile remained calm and reassuring “Now, stay very still. You really are about to see something truly remarkable, someone extraordinary. She’s coming to help us”.

For a brief moment the boy had hoped he was referring to the Allfather and waffled between reassurance and fear, but the way the prince’s face lit up when he talked about this ‘someone extraordinary’ quickly had him curious again.

The rumblings became insistent once more, bringing about a heretofore unknown respect for nature in a boy used to climbing the cliff faces alone in search of adventure. Looking around he suddenly comprehended with stomach roiling clarity the danger of the rapidly crumbling shelf beneath his feet and the large boulders shifting on the mountain side above them. “Can’t you just give me your hand?”

Loki laughed reassuringly “No my friend, you see… I am but an illusion, here to keep an eye on you till help arrives. Unlike me” there was a gleam in the prince’s eyes as they fixed onto something behind the boy, his voice becoming softly reverent with relief “she is very real”.

The boy turned to find that there was now a girl standing behind him, appearing between one breath and the next with jarring solidity, blocking the formerly empty vista he’d just gazed out over.

Like the prince, she was nearer to being an adult then a child, wearing the dress and demeanor the boy associated with the palace. Her long dark hair caught in the breeze and might have been picturesque if not for the bright green eyes that flashed from beneath dark angular brows as she took in their situation. When those unsettling eyes lighted on him she paused and her expression of harried concentration belatedly shifted to an attempt at a reassuring smile. It was not as convincing as the prince’s.

Unsure, the boy hunkered down and appealed to the prince “What can she do?” he exclaimed as shale began to fall around them.

Despite the rumble of approaching boulders, the prince smiled encouragingly “Things that I can’t”.

This admission, that there were things beyond the Prince’s ability, finally shook the boy’s childish confidence in him and mortal fear began to etch itself over his young features as he realized how impossible his situation was, his voice shaking as he asked “Like what?”

Loki’s smile would almost have been apologetic if not for the calm faith he exhibited as he held the boys eyes and simply answered “Save you”.

Just as the rumble of the rocks became deafening, arms wrapped around the boy and the ground below their feet shuddered from the impact of the stones falling around them. He huddled into her embrace, hoping for the impossible but bracing himself for the worst. Watching the rock below his feet fall away and then vanish completely in a flash of light. It was replaced by the riotous colors of the gleaming bifrost.

The crushing weight of the rocks didn’t come. His lungs burned for oxygen, reminding him to take a breath. His eyes readjusted to the light as she released him, and he looked around to find himself standing just inside the gates of the bifrost. The deafening rumble of the rocks was silenced, the only sound reaching his ears now was a fountain’s soft spray. It was like waking from a nightmare and abruptly finding all was well, Asgard sleepily calm under a bright beautiful blue sky.

His face split in a wide grin, enjoying her remarkable magic trick before he remembered the Prince. He turned to look up at her with the question on his lips, but there was an expression of such stern worry on her face that he was instantly intimidated by those sharp eyes again and the thought fled his head.

His daunted expression reminded her to smile and she gently asked “You know your way home from here?”

The boy studied her for a moment, enchanted, as her smile transformed her face like the sun breaking through a storm. After a moment he nodded distractedly, thinking that the prince had been right to call her extraordinary. The thought jarred his memory and he was suddenly eager for her reassurance, asking “Is the prince safe too?”

Her smile slipped, just enough that he wondered if she was keeping it in place for his benefit. The smile was back in the blink of an eye, but her quick recovery felt practiced “I’ll take care of Loki, I promise, but I might not be able to save you if you’re foolish enough to set foot in those mountains again.” The boy nodded earnestly at her quickly delivered warning and she ruffled his hair as she stood “Don’t worry. Run along home now”.

With a flash of a grateful smile, the boy set off. He only made it a few steps before he gave into the temptation to turn around. The spot she had just occupied was already barren of her presence. It was disorienting and disappointing not to see her there, but it was also thrilling. He set off as fast as his legs could carry him, bursting to relay the tale to his friends, the Prince’s coin still warm in his palm.

Reappearing near the location she’d brought the boy from, though the shelf was now greatly reduced in size, she cried out Loki’s name, annoyed at the panic evident in her voice as her eyes scoured the chaotic ruin of rocks around her.

He appeared faintly before her, a sheepish smile on his handsome face. She sighed her relief, but the set of her shoulders was still tense with determination “Where?”

The rocks shifted somewhere above and off to the left of her, just as Loki turned to point in that direction. She scarcely had time to follow the direction of his hand before he flickered and vanished. Her eyes were immediately scanning over the mountainside, latching onto a small cave set among the cliffs, and suddenly she knew.

* * *

Loki looked up at the rocks cascading toward him. Reluctant to get sealed in the cave by the slide, he’d given ground until he was out of ground. Now he was dangling from the small entry ledge, the last bit of shelter he could reach. The second slide had taken out most of the ledge above the cave mouth, sealing the cave when it collapsed and leaving him clawing for purchase on what remained of his ledge.

Another round of slides was gaining momentum and he ducked the first few rocks as they ricocheted off the remainder of the upper ledge, fortuitously missing his hands as they bounced past, but the larger ones were bearing down on him now, big enough to wipe out his entire ledge if it took a direct hit. There were too many to pretend they might miss it, and him.

In the throes of truly appreciating the idiocy of his actions and the finality of the situation he’d gotten himself into, she appeared… and threw her arms around him mid-air, bracing herself for impact when she realized the proximity of the massive bolder soaring toward them.

The flash of light blinded his eyes for a moment while he waited to find out if they’d made it or not. Her face came into focus, and the look of fury in her eyes had never been such a welcome site.

He could still hear the clatter of the rockslide nearby, so he knew she hadn’t been able to take them far. Guilt immediately set in at the realization. Confirming his worry, her knees gave out and they sank to the ground together as he cradled her against him.

Unconsciously stroking her hair, he leaned back against the rocks and slowly slid his eyes closed in relief, whispering gratitude still colored by the fear he’d felt for them both “Thank you, Syn”.

Anyone else would have responded with sarcasm, anger, or berated him for this folly and brought his guard up. Syn just nodded and leaned into him companionably while she attempted to catch her breath. It wasn’t the first time they’d been in hot water and she had no foolish notions of it being the last time either. He held her close till the shaking stopped “can you walk?”

Another weary nod followed but he remained, giving her time to collect a bit more strength. He couldn’t resist teasing though “How do you always know when to come looking for me? It’s like the extra sense mothers have for their children or something.”

He felt a silent laugh jar her weary frame in answer before he addressed the deeper issue, the pronounced sincerity of regret filled his voice “I’m sorry about the boy. I only asked him to point out where he’d found it. I didn’t realize he’d followed me until after the first slide started”.

“You told me where he was, kept him safe until I got here. He followed you into trouble because he liked you, the little fool…” she added without conviction “not that I know what that feels like”.

Loki chuckled at the irony in her words and continued to stroke her hair, the air thick with expectation as he waited for her to try to talk him out of his odd explorations.

The expected words came eventually “The next time an urge to explore the caves of Asgard overtakes you my lord” she stopped to draw in another deep breath and he waited stoically for the rebuke “warn me. Or better yet” she finally looked up into his eyes, and tired as she was there was still good humor there “bring me along?”

He smiled down at her a moment and then shot back meaningfully “You’ve been rather busy of late my lady”.

Her smile faded and she broke eye contact with him to regain her feet.  Then took his hands and playfully hauled him to his feet, though she was still too weak to actually be any assistance “All the more reason I could use the distraction”.

Loki’s entire manner shifted, a sharp contrast to her affected nonchalance, and he looked at her intently “is that what I am to be now… a distraction?”

Syn leaned into him again, still clutching his hands, careful to quiz him with a light tone so they wouldn’t have to directly confront the subject she was barely able to pretend didn’t inspire a sense of wretchedness in her. “Do you know some way to keep the Allfather from his interests? If so, speak, I long to hear it”.

Lowering his eyes, he seemed to look inwardly and took a deep resigned breath. He’d been seeking an answer to that dilemma for weeks, and couldn’t find one that didn’t work against Syn’s sense of duty to her King, a necessity and an honor he felt no small amount of conflict over lately. Unable to give her an answer, he smiled at her instead and stroked her cheek “If only you were less… interesting”.

It was her turn to drop her eyes, wishing for the hundredth time that she hadn’t made her talents known, even among her childhood playmates. “For the good of Asgard” she repeated pedantically.  

She waited for the response that anyone else would have given her, ‘For Asgard!’ but Loki just stared back, a thousand thoughts shifting behind his eyes.

She decided to spare him any further worry over what she well knew to be a futile debate and changed the subject “What are you searching for out here anyway? Not a week goes by that I’m not saving your hide from another hole in these mountains…”

Loki opened his mouth to speak and took a breath instead. The slight pause, the way the corners of his mouth tugged back in hesitation, the way his eyes drifted to their surroundings, all were well-known giveaways to her that he was going to dodge a straight answer. Before the lie could leave his lips she made the question rhetorical by offering an answer “Plausible deniability?”

He released the breath in a relieved laugh and wet his lips “You know my shenanigans tend to land you in trouble” his hand paused midway through his hair and he cocked a brow at her knowingly “almost as much as your own curiosity does”.

She smiled, both of them thinking of the childhood antics that had often resulted in reprimands from Frigga, and occasionally more stern punishments from Odin himself.  The momentary lifting of their worries didn’t last long as Loki sobered, concentrating on unlacing and relacing his fingers with hers as he reluctantly reminded her “Trouble isn’t really something you can afford to be associated with anymore, Syn”.

She looked down at her fingers entwined with his until she worked up the courage to tell him what she’d been putting off for days, the future was too heavy in the air between them for her to put it off any longer “The Allfather is sending me…” she faltered and took a fortifying breath to start again “My weapons training is nearly complete… and The Norns have expressed an interest in teaching me” in a halfhearted attempt to put an optimistic face on it she added “Odin believes they might aid in building up my stamina”.

There was a long silence and she kept her eyes fixed firmly on their hands while she waited for him to absorb this. His fingers finally pressed hers and he responded so quietly she barely heard him “How long?”

Her answer came even more haltingly, determined to keep the sting of tears at bay “I do not know… but when I return… Odin intends for me to take on the mantel of my duties completely.”

Loki audibly swallowed, waiting with dread to hear what duties she’d been assigned, like it was the passing of a sentence of punishment. In many ways it was, for both of them. “Palace guardian or the Courts?”

She knew he was hoping she would be spared the courts. She still didn’t trust herself look at him without tears betraying her so she kept her eyes down “Both”.

Another long silence ensued. Loki understood his father’s position on the matter, in theory, but he was struggling with the particular burden it would place on someone he cared for. As a prince of Asgard, he wasn’t allowed to be torn in his loyalties.

Syn’s distress did not entirely lie with the guardianship or the courts, she had become resigned to how she would serve Asgard, but when Odin had called her before him and informed her he was sending her to the Norns, the Allfather had hinted at further plans she had never guessed, and was incapable of relaying to Loki.

Eventually he placed a finger beneath her chin, forcing her eyes up, studying her, and she realized her behavior was becoming suspicious to him. He knew she was more accepting of her future than he was, and her new reticence on the matter was beginning to make him ponder what she wasn’t saying. Secret keeping was difficult between them; they knew each other too well.

She needed to move the subject along. The words came out in a rush, accompanied by a less than genuine smile “I leave in a fortnight”.

A sad curve of his lips and softened gaze was all it took and she lost herself in those eyes. It happened so easily and often now that it was a wonder she kept her head when others were about.  He leaned in and captured her lips in a soft kiss, something that was still new to them both “Then we shall steal every moment we can. .. and hope the Norns have plenty of fires handy so we can keep an eye on each other”.

His secretive nature would not tolerate that from anyone else, but he trusted her. The concession made her cock her eyebrow at him playfully “I often wonder if your mother taught me that trick for that very reason”.

He smiled fondly, recalling the lessons his mother had taught them both, and threaded his fingers through hers again, his voice lowering thoughtfully “I often wonder if my mother would be appalled to know how much time her handmaiden spends in my company” his tone turned playfully ironic “or whether she might actually be relieved”.

Syn breathed out a laugh “Do you honestly believe she doesn’t have some idea already?”

Loki’s brow creased. “I believe she still sees us as childhood friends, same as the rest of the court”.

The playful mood suddenly evaporated as Syn’s eyes shifted away and she sighed, hesitating before grudgingly admitting “Thor suspects”.

The corner of Loki’s mouth pulled up in a disbelieving smirk at odds with her abrupt seriousness “How so?”

Syn would normally have smiled back at that smirk, but she only lowered her head and quietly said “He teases me about you”.

Thor teased as easily as breathing, Loki shrugged off her concerns with a roll of his shoulders “I don’t see how that is any indication…”

“It’s different now. His teasing… the banter between us, it’s very… different now”. She was getting too close to topics best avoided and shifted uncomfortably.

Loki immediately picked up on her inclination to physically distance herself from the words and all playfulness vanished, now he was certain there was something she wasn’t telling him.

He was just about to wheedle it out of her when her eyes became far away. It was an expression he was well acquainted with, she was connecting to events inside the palace.

When her eyes refocused on his, her explanation was a simple statement “Your Lady mother is looking for me”.

Loki glanced down, sullen for a moment at the prospect of losing her company, something that happened all too often of late. “Are you recovered enough to make the jump?” was all he said.

“Yes…but only for myself”. She smiled apologetically.

He nodded and ran a hand through his hair again, uncomfortable with the distance he could feel coming between them already, meeting her eye without knowing what to say. He still managed to communicate his reluctance to give up the stolen moment.

True to her Asgardian upbringing, a sense of duty prevailed and Syn pulled herself away, reminding him that powers above them were expecting her. In a blink she was gone, and the air around him suddenly seemed colder.

Rematerializing not far from the queen’s path, Syn suppressed the need to fall to her knees and lie there till her strength returned. The jump was too ambitious, she’d been too keen to hide the days adventure. Her abilities were only as good as her limits, and her limits seemed to be frustratingly rooted, not in her knowledge, but in her physicality. No matter how many magics she learned to manipulate, it was her body that paid the price for her exertions. The price was deceptively high.

“Ah, Lady Syn” was all the queen said as she rounded the path and caught sight of her. The greeting was warm and innocuous but Syn knew her queen’s quick perception had already taken in her state of deterioration despite her hasty efforts to hide it. Frigga’s anxious eyes didn’t miss the too pale face, her sagging shoulders, the sweat beaded on her brow. She’d been like a second mother to Syn, she’d had more of her lifetime to mother her than her own parents had been allotted.

“Is everything alright?” was all the queen asked. It was a double sided question, meant as an inquiry about her son’s well-being as much as Syn’s. Frigga knew there was nothing else that could account for Syn’s current state on an otherwise unremarkable day.

“Everything is as it should be, my Queen” Syn somehow managed to respond with an appearance of unremarkable normalcy, a practiced mask slipped on for the eyes of the court that surrounded them. Frigga relaxed almost imperceptibly and moved on allowing Syn to get in step behind her like a proper handmaiden.  Syn had discovered at a young age that Court was a game of verbal and non-verbal communication. Endgame was who could and couldn’t be trusted, an ever shifting pool complicated by power, position, and pact.

Pacts weren’t always consciously forged.

Syn’s friendship with Loki had manifested shortly after her arrival at the palace, a set of kindred spirits among their Asgardian brethren.  Magic ran strong in her family, but Odin had taken a particular interest in hers, so much so that she’d been brought to live in the palace as a small child rather than growing up in her own esteemed family’s household. She missed her sisters. She’d seen Idunn occasionally, but only because her half-sister also had duties to the Allfather.

The palace wasn’t exactly an easy place to grow up, she was somewhere between royal ward and servant, and if there hadn’t been two children close to her age and a very kind queen overseeing her lessons, it would have been intolerable. As it was Thor had often made it barely tolerable.

She and Loki had been fast friends, always game for sharing ideas, for exploring and secrets, for private jokes. She wasn’t around as much as he would have liked, much of her time was taken up with extra lessons on controlling her magic.

Thor on the other hand, had a penchant for tugging her hair and teasing her constantly. He’d meant it good naturedly, but it had quickly grown old.

The value of magic was a double standard in Asgard, it wasn’t valued the way that the strength and bravery of a warrior were.  If you wanted to be taken seriously you had to prove yourself a fighter. So when she’d finally had enough of Thor’s more callous antics, she’d retaliated physically rather than risking losing control of her magic on him. What she lacked in strength she made up for in speed and ingenuity.

She’d regretted it as soon as Thor apologized, and it was the only time she’d earned a chastisement from Frigga and, paradoxically, a respectful nod from the Allfather. He’d walked away with a grin and a gleam in his eye, and Syn was surprised to receive no punishment beyond Frigga’s chiding. There was soon a quiet order from Odin that she was to be trained with a sword in addition to her magic lessons.

Syn’s thoughts came back to the present as they were passing the training grounds. A statuesque warrior with fierce eyes and dark hair nodded acknowledgment to the Queen, and gave a passing glance to Syn before returning to her opponent. They’d often been sparring partners growing up, but Sif was not currently speaking to her, and Syn only sparred with Hogun anymore.

Frigga’s abrupt halt and slightly irritated sigh pulled Syn more firmly out of her reflections “Lady Syn, would you kindly spare us any further wanderings and tell me the whereabouts of the Allfather? I have already been to the throne room and now here with no luck”.

Syn smiled and nodded, her eyes becoming far away as she tapped into the magics she’d woven throughout the palace since her first days there. Spells used as a child to aid her antics with Loki and Thor, keeping them undetected in the heavily fortified palace while they’d gone on silly adventures like raiding sweets from the kitchen when they should have been in bed, and later some not-so-silly adventures.

When she could find no trace of Odin, Syn distractedly admitted “I believe he is in the weapons vault my Queen”. Being unable to locate Odin there was not a cause for concern, Syn had rarely been allowed into the vault, but there was something else unexpectedly tugging at her.

Frigga had already started off down the corridor again when Syn figured it out.

She ran forward, tearing a sword from the scabbard of a passing Einherjar before she overtook Frigga and stood her ground before her surprised Queen, an eerie calm settling over her. There were startled exclamations from the other handmaidens behind her but Syn barely heard them. What she’d sensed stood just a few steps further down the corridor.

The diplomat paused, uncertain now if he should feign offense at Syn’s challenge, or brush aside the silly girl’s antics. When he met her eyes he knew he would get no closer, even if he continued his ruse of seeking a casual audience with the queen. His face set determinedly just before rushing forward with an energy gun drawn to make short work of the situation before him.

He fired a shot and Syn swung instinctively, catching the blast on the blade and redirecting it harmlessly towards the wall, where it exploded bits of stone into the air. The corridor erupted in a chaos of screams and she could hear the others behind her escorting the Queen to safety. She could hear Frigga calling out her name in frustrated alarm when Syn didn’t flee with the rest of her handmaidens. 

Syn could conjure dark energy, it was how she made her jumps, draining the man’s gun was a simple wave of her hand.

When the weapon powered down he dropped it, sizing her up with renewed interest. She waited without pressing an attack, content to keep his focus on her while everyone else reached safety. His eyes shifted behind her toward the retreating queen for a moment and she drew them back to her by switching the sword out of her dominant hand, freeing her fingers to perform a draw.

His eyes followed her movements as smoky golden tendrils formed at her fingertips while she pulled her undulating fingers across the air before her chest. When her hand stopped she turned her open palm to the wisps she’d pulled out of thin air, calling them back to her waiting hand, slowly enclosing her fingers around the ball of light their gathered form created, caging her vaporously gathered power until she was ready to unleash the spell.

He watched, mesmerized by her elegant movement, before realizing it’s implications once the sphere blazed in her grip. Then he rushed at her, another weapon in hand as he yelled his battle cry with abandon. Whatever it was, it glowed menacingly while it reached for her and he attacked with utter faith that it would bring him victory. 

Syn tipped her head slightly to the side in an unsettlingly cold movement, like she was studying a curiosity, and then opened her hand.

A blast of light flew from her hand, morphing into a luminously transparent shield that filled the corridor, his efforts to attack vanishing harmlessly into it as it approached him. When the shield reached his body he dissolved into a pile of ash on contact. It was all that was left of him besides stray specks floating in the light and the sudden reek of burned flesh that filled the corridor. 

Syn turned to find half a dozen Einherjar behind her, their battle stolen from them, their swords draw and shields up as they regarded her and the pile of ash with dumbfounded expressions and a gleam of fear in their eyes.

She promptly collapsed in a heap at their feet.

The dark void of sleep overtook her and she was senselessly lost in it. Adrift on a sea of dark water until Loki’s voice penetrated the emptiness “Syn?”

The amount of concern he managed to express in uttering her simple name drew her thoughts to him like wind in a sail, she kept followed the sound of his voice until she could feel the warmth of his hand enveloping hers, feel the soft bed beneath her and the weight of the blanket laid over her.

After she managed to navigate the journey back to awareness, she was rewarded with a slit of bright light assaulting her eyes making her regret the trip. She closed them and it took a bit of coaxing to convince herself to try it again. It helped that Loki’s voice was cheering her on with relief “There you are”.

She managed to get her eyes completely open this time, but they landed on Sif standing at the foot of the bed. She met her eyes without expression, then turned and strode out of the room.

Loki was seated on a stool at her bedside “I hear you overtaxed yourself spectacularly” he teased, grinning sweetly at her.

Syn grimaced at him as she tried to sit up, only able to prop herself on her elbows before she had to reevaluate just how badly she wanted to be awake. Loki’s teasing smile vanished and the concern beneath emerged as he helped her sit up and offered a cup of water.

Not really interested in the water, she took a sip just to pacify him. The small taste awoke her thirst and she was overcome by it, gulping down the rest of cup. “Easy” he gently admonished.

Her oddly overwhelming thirst stirred her curiosity and events began to drift back to her “How long have I been asleep?”

“A day” Loki admitted, knowing she would react with as much concern as he felt over the matter “I haven’t seen you sleep that long and hard since we snuck into the weapons vault…”

It was one of their more mischievous childhood excursions, and though Loki and Thor weren’t fully aware of the fallout it had entailed, one result had been the removal of the Tesseract from Asgard. It was a tale Syn had been sworn to secrecy on… by Odin himself.

She stared in disbelief at Loki for a moment before a commotion at the door drew their attention. Odin’s commanding voice flowed throughout the room from the hall, thanking Sif outside, before his presence abruptly filled the room.

Loki hastily stood and Syn managed to get her wobbly legs beneath her, thanks to Loki’s steadying hand, before she fully appreciated the fact that she was bowing to royalty in her bedclothes.

Odin didn’t seem to notice, just gestured in his brisk manner for her to return to bed and gave Loki a look he knew well. He obeyed it just as wordlessly, throwing one last reassuring smile at Syn before he left the room. She knew beneath that smile Loki was just as apprehensive about this visit as she was.


End file.
